Many different types of forms are used in businesses and governmental entities, including educational institutions. Forms include transcripts, invoices, business forms, and other types of forms. Forms generally are classified by their content, including structured forms, semi-structured forms, and non-structured forms. For each classification, forms can be further divided into groups, including frame-based forms, white space-based forms, and forms having a mix of frames and white space.
Automated processes attempt to automatically identify the type of form and to subsequently identify the form's content. The automated processes may be different based on whether the form is frame-based, white space-based, or having a mix of frames and white space.
However, many of these processes are extremely time consuming and require a large amount of processing power. For example, image registration compares the actual images from two forms, almost as if one was holding two pieces of paper up to a light and manually comparing the two forms. The image registration requires a significant amount of storage and processing power since the images typically are stored in large files. Therefore, improved systems and methods are needed to automatically identify forms, including frame-based documents.